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Sorry, I may have jinxed Jr. today. For the first time in 2 years, I actually wore my #8 hat (and in public, too). It’s now back on the shelf, not to be worn for another couple of years.

Who knows….this may be the last time I wear it…..especially if Teresa decides to lock horns with Jr. about ownership of DEI.

Next week is an off week, then we go to the redesigned track at Vegas. They not only reworked the track, but almost completely redid the infield. Something tells me that Bruton’s trying to make LV the focal point of the Awards banquet. I’m sure NA$CAR would be treated much better in this locale than anywhere else….and there would be no shortage of talent to make the banquet a first class celebration.

Kudos: Many thanks to Carolyn Brewster in Alaska (yes, Alaska) for filling in last week. I have yet to watch the Tivo replay, but will do it shortly.

Mikie: Aw, shucks. Dufus missed the race. Will the world of NA$CAR survive without him? You bet yer bippy. And for all the Oyota haters out there, you can whoop and holler all you want. The icing on the cake, of course, was when his sidekick Davie InA Rut,man bounced Mikie outta the race. And isn’t it amazing that no one’s fessed up about the (jet fuel) ‘additive’ at the 500. But the investigation goes on (just to make sure it looks like they’re trying to find out who did it).

Maybe, maybe not: Aw, shucks. Jerry Maybefield missed the race. This just purely breaks my heart. We all know he wants to shine as brightly as he can, in order to ‘stick it’ to Evernham. But it just ain’t workin’ out that way, is it, hayseed? Smells like Maybefield just ate a huge slice of humble pie……

Unleaded: “Get the lead out” used to mean stomping the gas pedal. Now it has a whole new meaning in NA$CAR. The question of lubricity over 500 miles was partially answered today, but it’s not altogether resolved. If the motors can vroom the entire race at the Coke 600 in Charlotte, they they will have proved their point.

Dot com me: I don’t know about you, but the ‘revised’ NA$CAR.com site stinks. I was perfectly happy with the old setup, but the new one is so confusing that I’m gonna opt for another site. The old site had the updated results within minutes, but the ‘new and improved’ site drags on and on with last week’s results. It took them 1.5 hours to post the California results. I mean, if NA$CAR can’t put the numbers up, who can??

Da Race: It didn’t take long for the first wreck. BeamMeUpScotty lost it, and collected JamieMac and I’mSore-nson in the 7th lap. 5 more laps, then the first motor conked out. Truaxle was 5th when his motor spewed the tell tale cloud of smoke. On the restart, Jr. dropped way off the pace with a cut RF tire.

Yada, yada: Ragan spins, Marlin did a wall job, then Jr.’s engine problem surfaced. Right after that, KaseOfKahne had some sort of engine problem. Later, daKase and Jr. returned to the track, but Jr. would soon exit, stage left. When Jr. returned, they had put a band-aid on his engine, allowing it to motor around for Points with 7 cylinders. A couple of laps later, Blarney’s engine blew/Jr.’s band-aid only lasted about nine laps, and it went up in a cloud of smoke. To his credit, Jr. delicately kept it off the fence, thus saving his chassis from certain destruction. One of the highlights of the day was when Jr. exited his car, and bowed to the fans. Nice touch.

Although last year’s race had 4 blown engines, and this year’s race had 5 (maybe 6), the magnifying glass was focused on DEI, who sported two oil clouds. Someone back home wasn’t doing their homework, and I’m sure they’re gonna get a lot of heat from it. When engine problems claim 2 of the 3 DEI entries, it’s time to pucker up.

Speeding tickets were doled out: TrimTony got the first one (ouch, he was the leader at the time), followed by RickRude, JamieMac and DavieGilliland. TrimTony never fully recovered, and literally threw the race away with a case of the ‘twinkle toes’.

Lots of good, hard racing at the end. Was Happy gonna overtake the leader with just a few laps remaining, or was MattyBoy gonna sweep the weekend with bookend Busch and Cup wins? What a let-down when we saw Happy limping around the track just before the final restart….with a flat LF tire. End of story, end of race, cuz nobody could catch the 17 car. For the last 25 laps of the race, Matty was on a rail, and aside from Happy, the rest of them were racing for the ‘first loser’ position.

Kudos: To MattyBoy for winning without his crew chief. To Gordo and JJ for finally getting their cars tuned (but Gordo, you’re the ‘first loser). . To RCR for solid race cars all day. To TrimTony for a great recovery to an 8th place finish. And perhaps most of all, to VickersVapoRub for a solid 10th place finish for Oyota. Who woulda thunk??

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Carhartt store,
Racing Maniac #3, #8e